The Augusta Eagles took a difficult road to get to the last 3.9 seconds of Saturday's NCHBC Southeast Regional tournament championship game, defeating two of the tournaments best teams in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, and battling a red hot, home based Nashville Warriors team throughout the final game. And Augusta's 60-59 lead would not stick as Nashville's Connor Sears buried a three pointer from the left wing as time expired.
"He hit a great shot, and Nashville played a great game. But I am proud of our players. I always am," Eagles coach Chad Cook said after the game.
The Warriors gradually gained a 9 point halftime lead after making 8 three pointers in the opening half. Augusta stayed close as Austin Crown scored 19 first half points. The Eagles stormed back during the third quarter as Crown and Matt Miller combined for 13 of the team's 16 points, and Nashville's lead was one point, 48-47, when Patrick Hyland's floater fell just before the third quarter's buzzer sounded.The fourth quarter began unfortunately for Augusta, as Austin Crown picked up his fourth and fifth fouls during the first two Eagles' possessions. But Miller and teammates Jacob Greenway, Dominic Brown, Paul Jones, and Jonathan Pye picked up the slack for Augusta. Miller made a key three pointer to give Augusta a 55-54 lead, and Brown's driving layup extended it to 57-54. After Nashville tied the game at 57, Greenway immediately answered with a three pointer to give Augusta the 60-57 lead with 20 seconds remaining.
But after two Warriors' free throws, Nashville had possession on the baseline with 3.9 seconds remaining. Connor Sears found an opening and buried the game winner. The Nashville crowd stormed the court to celebrate the home team's regional championship.
Both teams now look forward to the NCHBC National Championships in Springfield, Missouri.
Sorry to hear last night's game lasted 4 seconds too long, Chad.
ReplyDeleteLots of woulda, coulda, shouldas accompany those heartbreaks. Been there, done that.
But the sun's out this morning, and it's a whole new day. Enjoy it to the fullest.
All that said, you had a great weekend in what had to be an extremely hostile environment, being the "newcomer" and only non-Tennessee team. On top of that, you ended up playing the tournament host in the finale for all the marbles. Just 4 too many seconds!
You are rightfully proud of what your team has accomplished in three short years, and I'm sure the team is equally proud of their coach.
I'm happy to be associated with both the coach and his team.
Finally, Keenan and I still believe in the power of EAGLESANITY, or the ability to "come out of nowhere," through an abundance of hard work and persistent effort.
Your fan. Bob.
Chad and team, forgive me if I sound like one of those people who comes up to you after a tough loss and tries to offer words of comfort when none will do (I always hated that even more than losing), but having seen you guys play on many occasions and having witnessed this latest run from afar, I understand better why people come up to you after a game like that. They feel they should say something.
ReplyDeleteSo with that, I'll just say thanks.
I know that is no consolation to you, but I have really enjoyed watching you guys play the game the way it supposed to be played just the same.
Kmann
Thanks guys! Your interest in the team means a lot to the players and the coach. They were very good - athletically, mentally, and emotionally - under pressure this weekend. Very good. And I am very proud of them.
ReplyDelete